Algorithms Specialization
About this course
Tim Roughgarden's Algorithms Specialization is the most well-regarded algorithms credential available online — four courses moving from sorting and divide-and-conquer through graph algorithms (Dijkstra, BFS/DFS, SCCs), greedy algorithms, dynamic programming, and NP-completeness. Roughgarden's teaching is exceptional: rigorous mathematical analysis combined with genuine enthusiasm for the subject.
Unlike most algorithms courses that focus purely on interview preparation, this specialization provides the mathematical foundations of algorithm analysis — proving correctness, deriving time complexity from first principles, and understanding when and why algorithms work. It's the closest online equivalent to Stanford's CS161 undergraduate algorithms course, and is frequently recommended as the benchmark for online algorithms education.
What you'll learn
This course includes
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- Price
- PaidSubscription-based, free to audit
- Duration
- 200 hrs
- Level
- Intermediate
- Certificate
- Specialization Certificate
- Price
- FreeAudit free · $199 cert
- Duration
- 100 hrs
- Level
- Beginner
- Certificate
- Verified
- Price
- FreeCompletely free, forever
- Duration
- 300 hrs
- Level
- Beginner
- Certificate
- Completion
- Price
- FreeCompletely free, forever
- Duration
- 300 hrs
- Level
- Intermediate
- Certificate
- Completion
Instructor
Taught by Tim Roughgarden, Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University and formerly Stanford, a leading algorithms researcher.
Requirements
- Programming experience; mathematical maturity (proofs, induction)
Who this course is for
- CS graduates who want rigorous algorithms foundations beyond interview prep
- Software engineers preparing for technical interviews who want depth
- Self-taught developers who want to formalize their algorithms knowledge